Chapter 4 - the emergence of action

Question 1

reflex

Answer 1

an innate response that occurs automatically to a particular form of stimulation

Question 2

patellar reflex

Answer 2

an early-emerging reflex, also known as the “knee jerk reflex,” involving the extension of the lower leg when the tendon at the knee cap is abruptly pressed

Question 3

rooting reflex

Answer 3

a reflex found in newborns in which a gentle touch on the results in movement of the face as to bring the mouth around the touching object

Question 4

grasp reflex

Answer 4

a reflex found in newborns in which they will grasp an object when it is pressed against their palm

Question 5

stepping reflex

Answer 5

a newborn reflex of engaging in repetitive stepping motion when held upright

Question 6

moro reflex

Answer 6

a reflex found in young infants in which an abrupt lack of support of the head results in an outward and upward movement of the arms

Question 7

maturational account

Answer 7

an account of development in which developmental change is largely attributed to biological maturation as opposed to experience

Question 8

motor deprivation

Answer 8

a condition under which an organism is either prevented from moving or not given the opportunity to pair movement with perception or objects acted upon

Question 9

dynamic systems theory

Answer 9

a theory of motor development that stresses the importance of the physics of the limb and the environment in which an action is made in addition to central cortical control programs

Question 10

perceptual-motor development

Answer 10

development that proceeds through an integration with perceptual feedback. While normally discussed with respect to vision, it can also apply to other modalities

Question 11

prereaching

Answer 11

mostly failed attempts to touch objects by very young infants

Question 12

visual flow fields

Answer 12

the streaming visual patterns made by objects and terrain over time as they flow by an observer who is either moving or is having the environment move about her

Question 13

affordances

Answer 13

the possibilities for action based on the properties of the objects or surfaces on which the action will be performed. The same object may have different affordances for different organisms

Question 14

mirror neuron

Answer 14

a neuron in the brain that is activated both when performing an action and when perceiving it being performed by others and that is thought to support imitation

Question 15

imprinting

Answer 15

a form of learning that takes place during a critical period in which young members of a species acquire a behavior or response patterns that remains permanent after the critical period is over

Question 16

classical conditioning

Answer 16

a form of learning in which the pairing of an unconditioned stimulus with a conditioned stimulus results in a conditioned response

Question 17

unconditioned stimulus

Answer 17

a stimulus that normally elicits an unconditioned response

Question 18

unconditioned response

Answer 18

a response that is normally associated with a stimulus without the need of associative learning

Question 19

conditioned response

Answer 19

a response that becomes associated with a stimulus that normally does not elicit a response

Question 20

conditioned stimulus

Answer 20

a stimulus that becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus but that would not normally elicit a response

Question 21

behaviorism

Answer 21

the view that psychology is best understood as describing the effects of external contingencies on behavior and not by referring to unseen mental events and representations

Question 22

tabula rasa

Answer 22

a “blank writing tablet” or “blank slate,” used as a metaphor by empiricists to describe the nerborn’s mind as completely malleable by experience; originally used in a Latin translation of Aristotle, but attributed to John Locke, who actually used the metaphor “white paper”

Question 23

operant conditioning

Answer 23

a form of learning in which desired behaviors are gradually approximated in an organism through schedules of positive and negative reinforcement for increasingly accurate versions of the desired behavior; also called instrumental conditioning

Question 24

shaping

Answer 24

the gradual modification of a behavior through operant conditioning, by gradually rewarding behaviors as they come closer and closer to resembling a desired behavior

Question 25

blocking

Answer 25

a phenomenon in classical conditioning in which pre-training with one conditioned stimulus can interfere with (block) the formation of an association with a subsequent conditioned stimulus

Question 26

prepared

Answer 26

having a tendency to associate a class of responses with one class of stimuli than with another without having prior experience with those stimuli